Thursday, June 19, 2014

Step sequencers and time sync-ed LFO are the most important parts of the synth. They connect the sound to the music in a rhythmic way. Modulation expresses the sound over time. Modulation re-shapes the wave and makes it talk. Modulate the filter. Modulate the pitch with a FM or OSC sync. The modulation alone can make a groove or just using the mod wheel can make your synth talk to the listener. You can even start with modulation during the creation of your patches. Modulating pulsewidth gives the sound an interesting texture. Synth sounds are not all about envelopes. Envelopes often trigger exactly the same at each note press. This makes it no better than a rompler. You get a static sound with envelopes. With a rhythmic modulation, step sequencer modulation etc. you can make the sound alive. Modulation can often make a sound unrealistic, but that is the point of using an analog synthesizer. Making realistic sounds often is a failure. If you synthesize a sound thats already been heard before, you could still create a modulation of it that's never been done. Modulation is an important area to explore. It might not make any sense at first, as to what is changing what. Some synths are very poor choices and have limited modulations. Always pick a synth that makes LFOs and step sequences easy, and make sure they are time synced.

2. Create sounds by playing along with music

This is important to getting your sound EQed and to match your song style-wise. Customizing a synth sound to your music just makes it more fluid. A lot of times you can fix a synth sound by adjusting the amount of bass or brightness (filter). Many digital synths are way too bright and must be adjusted, and pulled back to be less aggressive. Filters used for bass often aren't too bright. You can often make a better bass sound on a synth thats not too good at bass, by bumping up the EQ. Overrall you should think of yourself as mixing the sound with other sounds. If you create sounds by themselves, you'll listen to them again later and they will be too loud, or won't work in your songs.

3. Learn how to use EFX.

Not all synths have effects. The ones that do are pretty special. Sometimes a boring patch can find life with some basic effects like chorus and reverb. Effects can add to the modulation-factor. Effects give atmosphere. Effects can make the synth sound talk. The patch you are making is either a voice or an effect sound with some type of subconscious emotion that effects can further bring out. Different effects can remind the listener of different periods of music when those effects were popular. They can make the sound generic or take it to a new level.

4. Learn how to adjust timing of every parameter

Timing of the envelopes, LFOs, and even reverbs / phasers can drastically change a sound. The timing of each parameter can align harmonics into a new layer of combined sound. At the end, everything will just feel right. Not everything needs to be synced, but you can try to achieve a subconscious harmony of waves (or dissonance if you prefer). You can sweeten and tighten up sounds by playing a musical sequence. You can load up old patches and just re-tweak everything to fit a different speed of playback.

5. You don't need an analog synth to make music

Analogs can be great, but not all of them fit with music production needs. They are missing many modern features. The external connections can slow you down. Their limited nature can hold you back music wise. The modern computer can do everything that an analog synth can. It will just sound slightly different. Most listeners will never be able to tell if you are using an analog synth or not, especially with todays effects and recording process. There are good reasons to use analog synths, but there are just far more options with digital music creation. The cost is a lot less. Buying an analog synth will not turn you into a genius. It may not even make your music any better. You may want one for performing or experimentation, but in the end its not 100% necessary. In the end an analog instrument will never match the functions of a digital synth without a great cost to the user.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

São Paulo-based sound house Spektro Audio has shared a lovely Live pack full of multi-sampled bass instruments, free. They set to work on a very tasty-sounding Eurorack modular, then put together ten Sampler-based instruments in Instrument Racks, complete with options for filtering, distortion, and the like. Using their CV Toolkit, they triggered that same modular setup from their Live set. No specifics on what's in their rack, but you'll spot some nice modules from some of our favorite builders: Mutable Instruments (is that Braids?), Tip Top ...read more

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

You know those infomercials that tell you to call now – though it makes absolutely no difference when you call? This is the opposite of that.

Basically, you can buy a new 64-bit channel strip plug-in from Eventide for US$249. Or, act now, and it will cost … nothing. It's free, through the 8th of July. I had to read this twice; I thought maybe it was an older version or an existing plug-in. It's not. Their intro price is zero, and then it goes up to two hundred fifty bucks.

And coming from Eventide, this is especially big news, as the ...read more

Some demo songs say “I'm cheesy, please buy me.” “I'm trying desperately to sound like the current genre of the moment.” This one says something different. It shouts: “Greetings. I'm the Dominion 1. You might not know me – but you should. I am awesome. I am your new best friend. I am what you covet – I am what you shall have, because I will be yours. Together, we will triumph. We will quest together through the party times, and the world will go our way in ways that surprise even us. People will ...read more

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Sometimes, it takes just that one set of sounds to unfreeze your creativity and get a song started. And that's why freebies are sometimes such fun: they're even a bit more odd, a handful of offbeat sounds that just begs to be turned into … something.

The folks at Puremagnetik have been posting some gems to their Tumblr account. This just in: “Wicked Kits” is a collection of five drum kits pre-configured for Ableton Live. (As with any Live kit, there are raw samples you can use in any tool you like – Renoise, MPC, whatever.)

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

It's festival season, a time for pre-packaged artists, album-perfect live sets, pristine digital worlds that sometimes literally come from the folks at Google. And there's nothing wrong with that. But maybe now is a good time to look to the other avenue – to keeping things rough and loud, flawed, live in the sense that has mistakes.

Robert Lippok, the always-busy, long-working Berlin-based artist, can celebrate both that messiness and obsessive control. As a soloist, he's been a staple on Raster Noton; he's also known for being one third of To Rococo Rot. 2014 is bringing ...read more